Manually operated rowboat



y 1949- w. E. HOGREFF MANUALLY OPERATED Row BOAT 5 Sheet-$heet 1 ,Filed Sept. 4, 1947 FAG. a

' 6 6 INVENTOR. W/ZL/A/V HOG/Q1277 y 1 1949. w. E. HOGREFF 9,

MANUALLY OPERATED ROW BOAT Filed Sept. 4, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 F/ G. INVENTOR.

May 10, 1949. r E HOGREFF 2,469,646

MANUALLY OPERATED ROW BOAT Filed Sept. 4, 1947 I s Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. WALL/4M AI. A/OGA L F Patented May 10, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application September 4, 1647, Serial No. 772,169

- 1 Claim.

This invention relates to row-boats, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a manually operated row-boat propelled by a rotatable propeller operable through mechanism mounted centrally therein, by a man or men seated therein, the main deck thereof being mounted upon a water-tight, unsinkable float.

Another object of the invention is to provide a boat of the kind referred to and comprising a flat, hollow basal, air filled float, preferably pointed at its forward end and formed with a longitudinally extended recess opening out through its rear end for receiving and passing a propeller and rudder, skids mounted upon the under side of the float at the sides of the recess for protecting the propeller and rudder when the boat is dragged over the beach, a deck with a flat bottom firmly mounted upon the float and over the recess thereof, the said deck including raised sides and ends and the bottom plate thereof having a trapdoor formed and mounted in the rear end thereof over the recess of the float, the said trap-door being hinged at its inner or forward end to the rear margin of the bottom plate of the boat, a hand operated reciprocable rowing mechanism, including hand levers, mounted centrally upon the inner hinged end of the trapdoor and a propeller shaft journaled centrally through the trap-door and extended angularly downward at its rear end through the said open recess of the float, the forward end of the shaft being operatively connected with the rowing mechanism for rotating the shaft through the reciprocation of the hand levers of the rowing mechanism, there being a rotary propeller keyed upon the rear, lower and outer end of the propeller shaft, a rudder shaft journaled perpendicularly through the forward end of the trap-door below the upper and forward end of the propeller shaft, a rudder keyed upon the lower end of the rudder shaft, within the recess of the float, a transversely extended pedal bar medially anchored to the upper end of the rudder shaft and provided with foot pedals at its opposite ends, and rower benches supported at their ends upon the sides of the deck, forwardly and rearwardly of the rowing mechanism, the rear bench over the trapdoor being hinged at one end to a side of the deck, for raising the seat to permit the raising of the trap-door.

With the stated objects in view, together with such other objects and advantages as may appear from the specification, attention is directed to the accompanying drawing, as exemplifying a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein Figure 1 is a top plan view of the boat assembly.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the assembly of Figure 1, the raised positions of the rear seat and the trap-door with attached elements being in- 2 dlcated in dotted lines, and a medial section of the deck being broken out to show the rowing mechanism.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the boat assembly.

Figure 4 is a detail taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale, showing in side elevation one of the pair of bevelled driving gears.

Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a transverse vertical section on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a transverse vertical section on the line 11 of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a transverse vertical section on the line 8-8 of Figure 2.

In constructing a boat in accordance with this invention, I provide an elongated, flat, hollow, air and water tight, basal float 5, of any preferred material, preferably pointed at its forward end 5a, and formed at its rear end with a longitudinally extended opening or recess 51;, for receiving and passing the propeller shaft and propeller, and rudder shaft and rudder of the boat, as later described. A pair of skid-shoes 5c are bolted at 5d to the under side of the float 5, at each side of the recess 5b and in transverse parallel alignment.

Upon the basal float, I firmly mount a deck 6,

which conforms generally in plan with the shape of the float, though of slightly lesser length and width, and includes the bottom plate 6a, the vertical sides 61), the straight rear end 60 and the pointed forward end Ed. The bottom, sides and ends may be all firmly anchored together and to the float by means of angle strips 1 bolted or welded in place, and similarly the float may be reinforced in its corners by angle strips 1, all in conventional manner, and additional support may be afforded the sides of the deck by means of flat strips 8 braced outwardly around the sides and ends and anchored in place.

At the rear end of the bottom plate to, a medial section is cut out over the recess 5?) and conformably with the shape thereof, though not extended clear out through the rear end of the plate, a ledge 6e being left across this end. An elongated, rectangular trap-door 6 preferably of sheet iron and formed with upturned lateral flanges 6g is pivotally mounted upon the plate 6a over the recess 51) by means of pivot bolts 9 passed through the forwardly extended ends of the flanges 6g and through the longitudinally extended metal deck strips I!) which are welded or otherwise anchored to the bottom plate 611 closely alongside the flanges 6g of the trap-door. And it is to be noted that the trap-door 6f extends well forward, as does also the recess 5b, past the transverse center line of the boat, as indicated at 6h. A pair of rower benches H, l2, are mounted and supported upon the sides 6b of the boat, the

forward bench ll being firmly bolted in place at I5, while the rear bench I2 is hinged by one end to the side of the boat, as at I4. Thus the rear bench I2 may be readily raised for permitting the raising of the trap-door for the purpose as later explained. And it is to be noted that these benches are spaced substantially apart to provide a clear intermediate space at the hinged forward end of the trap-door 5 for mounting thereon the rowing mechanism now to be described.

The rowing mechanism comprises a pair of transversely spaced and aligned shaft bolsters I5, I511, flange-d outwardly along their straight lower margins to form shoes I5b, whereby they are firmly bolted in spaced relation at each side, as at I0, to the forward end of the trap-door 6 The bolsters are formed at their rear ends with inturned bight portions I50, directed angularly downward and rearwardly, and are formed with the complemental bearing bosses I5d recessed semi-circularly at their meeting ends to complete the propeller shaft bearing I5e (Figure 5) for passing the perpendicular shaft II- which passes angularly downward through the bearing I8, through the trap-door which is bored through thereat for the purpose, and through a bored hanger IBa anchored at l8b centrally to the under side of the trap-door, and into and partially through the recess 5b of the float 5, between the skid shoes 50. A bladed rotary propeller I9 is keyed upon the rear lowered end of the shaft I'I inwardly of the skid shoes 50, which serve to protect the propeller from injury in dragging the boat over the beach. The bolsters I5, I5a are locked together by means of bolts I5) passed through ears I5g raised integrally from the bosses I5d.

A bevelled pinion gear is keyed at 20a upon the inner end of the shaft If within the housing formed by the bolsters I5, I5a, forwardly of and supported by the bight portions I ofthe bolsters, the bevelled teeth of the pinion gear being turned inwardly.

The bolsters I5, [5a, are bored through in transverse alignment to form the shaft bearings I571 (Figure 6) and a heavy gear carrying shaft 2I is mounted through these bearings and keyed therein as at Zia against rotation. A pair of heavy, bevelled drive gears 22, 22a, are journaled in spaced relation upon the shaft 2!, inwardly of the bolsters I5, Ida, and these gears are placed in mesh at each side with the pinion gear 20. A heavy drive post 23 is bored transversely through at its lower end as at 23a for passing the shaft 2| therethrough, and upon which shaft the post is thus operatively journaled between the gears 22, 22a, as at 23b (Figure 6). An extension drive post 230 is formed with a socket at its lower end and is by this socket slipped over the upper end of the main post 23, and is keyed thereto as at 23c (Figure 4). A longitudinally extended drive bar 24 is centrally and rigidly mounted on the upper end of an extension. post 230 and hand bars 24a, 24b, are mounted centrally, transversely and rigidly to the ends of .the bar 2 3. The upper post 230 is braced at each side to the bar 24. A pair of spring-urged pawls 25, 26, (Figures 5 and 6) are pivotally pinned at 25a, 25a, within recesses 23d formed in opposite sides of the post 23, these pawls being set to work in opposite directions against the teeth of the gears 22, 22a, and are urged to the teeth by the leaf springs 27 pinned at 21a to the sides of the post 23. Thus as the post 23 is reciprocated back and forth by the rowers, or by one rower alone, the pawls alternately and operatively engage the contiguous gear teeth at either side, and continuously rotatethe intermeshed pinion gear 20 in one uniform direction, and of course also the propeller shaft I1 and propeller I9, for propelling the boat forwardly. The benches II and I2 are of course properly spaced relative to the hand bars 24a, 24b, to enable the rower or rowers to work to the best advantage.

A foot-operated rudder mechanism referred to generally at 28 (Figure 8) is provided, the same including a rudder shaft 28a journaled vertically down through the trap-door 8 centrally in front of the rear bench I2, and through a bearing block 281) anchored to the under side of the trapdoor. The rudder blade 280 in anchored by straps 28d to the lower end of the rudder shaft 28a. A cross-bar 28a is centrally and rigidly mounted at the upper end of the rudder shaft 28a within the boat, and foot pedals 28f are rigidly mounted at the ends of this cross-bar. Thus the boat may be readily steered by the feet of the rower asseated on the rear bench l2.

If desired, a trap-door 29 may be hinged as at 29a to one margin of an opening 30 formed at the rear end of the boat between the extended rear. ends 8a of the strips 6, whereby an outboard motor" 3|, with drive-shaft 32, propeller 33,'rudder 34,.and steering bar 35, may be added to the craft, themotor being attached to a block 36 secured to the rear end of the deck.

Form the foregoing specification, it is thought that the construction, use and operation of the craft will be fully understood, and while I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment ofthe boat, and preferred structural features thereof, it is understood that the construction and features shown may be varied, within the scope of the claim.

I claim: A boat of the kind described, comprising a basal fioatythere'being a recess formed longitudinally through its rear end and extended substantially inward, a deck mounted upon the float and in cluding raised sides and ends, a trap-door over the recess of the fioat, the same being hinged to the boat structure for opening and closing, a rowers bench hinged at one end to a side of the boat over the trap-door, a rowing mechanism mounted in the boat forwardly of the rowers bench; and'upon the forward end of the trap-door, the same including a-IOtary propeller shaft operatively connected at its inner forward end with the rowing mechanism and extended angularly downward and rearwardly' through the trap-door into the recess of the float, said shaft being journaled through bearings extendedfrom the boat structures, and a rotary propeller keyed upon .the rear lower end of the propeller shaft within the recess of the float.

VVILLIAM- L. I-IOGREFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file= ofthis patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 464,408 Williams 'Dec. 1, 1891 673,583 Prouty May 7, 1901 1,075,359 Le Blanc Oct. 14, 1913 1,840,949 Harvey Jan. 12, 1932 2,076,603 Svendsen Apr. 13,1937 

